Monday, August 11, 2008

More on Georgia

Henry Farell writes about Georgia, and mostly disagrees with me and others who see the US as primarily at fault. He argues that Russia is trying to stifle democracy in it's near-abroad, and I don't disagree. I just think that America has played the role of an accelerant in this fire, not an extinguisher.

The other thing I would say is that, if we are serious about curtailing Russian freedom of movement in its near-abroad, the next step is to fast-track Ukrainian membership in NATO, with some immediate movement of forces into that country as a kind of tripwire. But, if we do that we can kiss any kind of cooperation with Russia on Iran or any other issue goodbye.

Of course, the most likely result will be for us to loudly proclaim our commitment to Ukraine, and then whine like a beaten donkey when Russia neglects to recognize our magnificence.